GET MORE FDI'S; DISPERSE THEM TO THE COUNTRYSIDE

As the Senate deliberates the P4.1-billion proposed budget for 2020, Senator Richard J. Gordon said the Philippines should be more competitive in getting a bigger share of foreign direct investments (FDIs) to Asia and disperse them to different parts of the country to hasten development.

Gordon noted that FDI's in the country either go Manila or to CALABARZON (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) where there are a number of export processing zones and properly organized industrial parks that draw investors like magnets.

"Many of the country's areas are not as developed as CALABARZON, for example, Santa Rosa is called the Detroit of the Philippines because they make a lot of spare parts there. There are a lot of other areas in the region where manufacturing companies are located, they manufacture motorcycles, they have a lot of other stuff because it's easy, it is a focused development, people can go in there and select a site and it is a fast development because there is less rigmarole and less corruption and it has more flexibility," the senator said.

"Madali talaga kapag ikaw ay may industrial park, mas madaling pumili ng lugar at hindi gagawin ng mga tao na 'dito ka kamag-anak ko may-ari.' Magkano renta hindi nila masasagot kung magkano because hindi nakasalansan yung mga sinasabing incentives and reasons they won't be able to tell you how much minimum wage would be or how much power would be but these are all increments towards creating a formula where you can invite investments," he added.

Gordon pointed out that his proposed Regional Infrastructure and Investment Coordinating Hub (RIICH) bill would spur development in the countryside by maximizing the use of available infrastructures and resources in the region to entice investors in Central Luzon and later on, it could be replicated in other areas such as Cebu, Panay Island and Negros Island.

"What I'm looking for is a better mousetrap--a better mousetrap not only in terms of speed, making it faster because we need jobs, and Central Luzon is obviously--there's a lot of land out there that is still underdeveloped, and of course in Cebu, you can have the hub there, certainly in Iloilo, the Island of Panay, you can have the same thing, The RIICH Bill would maximize the benefits of infrastructure already existing in Central Luzon, such as the airports of Subic, Clark, and Manila and now a 4th Airport that is going to be built and the three seaports of Subic, Manila and Mariveles Seaport, that's three and the North Expressway the NLEX so called, the SCTEX, the Olongapo-Gapan Highway and which will now expand all the way up to Baguio, from what I hear. I have re-filed that bill," he said.